U.S. Army and allies invest $202 million in enhanced Patriot missile

TEWKSBURY, Mass. The U.S. Army Contracting Command announced that the Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded a contract to Raytheon for $202 million to perform enhancements to the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System. According to the company, the work on the Patriot will sustain more than 500 highly skilled jobs across four U.S. states, while adding to the functionality of the Patriot system.

The U.S. Army Contracting Command issued the contract, which was funded by the 13 nations that rely on Patriot for their defense. The contract work -- to include software development, systems analysis, testing, and logistics support -- will sustain more than 500 highly skilled jobs across four U.S. states; contract work will be performed at locations in Alabama, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Texas.

Ralph Acaba, vice president of Integrated Air and Missile Defense at Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business, states: "This contract will deliver critical capability to the warfighter while also employing highly skilled Americans. The members of the Patriot partnership share the cost of engineering services, which could be prohibitively expensive for a single nation."

The 13 nations that depend on the Patriot missile for their defense and are funding the Patriot enhancements are the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Taiwan, Greece, Spain, the Republic of Korea, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.